“watch, come back!” nibble squealed breathlessly, when he caught up with tommy and the old dog in the end of the pasture. “come back and bring tommy, too. i can tell you the red cow’s secret. she has a little new baby calf and she says she’ll trust it to tommy peele.”
“er-r yah!” barked watch, very pleased and proud because the other animals were beginning to love his tommy. and he turned right around to follow nibble.
but of course tommy hadn’t heard a word they said. they talk too low, for one thing, and they use all sorts of sign languages, too, for another. he thought watch was chasing nibble. so he shouted and scolded and called him a bad old dog. but watch only wagged his tail and kept right on.
meantime, something had been happening back at the pond. the strange man who set all those strange traps had come to look at them. and the red cow heard him. but she wasn’t scary any more because she had her new calf and she meant to take care of him. and she didn’t mean to let any one else in the world but tommy peele lay a hand on him.
he had a nice meal of warm milk inside of him and he’d gone to sleep. besides, doctor muskrat was still there to look after him. so out of the thicket she bounced and after the man.
“m-m-moo!” she roared, just like the first cows did when they told mother nature they’d punish the wicked wolves for themselves if she gave them their teeth again. but you remember mother nature couldn’t do that, so she gave them horns longer and sharper than the teeth of any wolf. the red cow’s horns certainly were. so that strange man climbed up the nearest tree to get away from them.
“get out!” she snorted. “go away from here!” but of course he couldn’t because she was walking around and around the trunk of that big tree, roaring at him and sending the mud over her shoulders with her big, horny toes. only she never thought of that, because she was rather stupid. then watch came bouncing up and he barked and snapped very fiercely. but tommy just laughed.
“oh, louie thomson,” he jeered. “you will set your traps in my woods, will you? see what you get now!” for this was the greedy boy who had sold him the trap that wouldn’t work.
“you’ll see what you get if that crazy cow takes after you!” yelled louie.
tommy was just a little bit afraid, for the cow was watching him with that scary look in her eyes. but he wasn’t going to let louie thomson know it. so he stood perfectly still and called her, “come bossy, co’ boss.”
“go along, red cow!” barked watch.
“i know,” squealed nibble, “i can see chaik jay’s present sticking right out of tommy’s pocket. ask him for that ear of corn.”
now the red cow was really very hungry. she reached out her sniffing nose. tommy didn’t move. so she picked the corn right out of his pocket with her long curling tongue. and then he laid such a gentle hand on her that she knew she wouldn’t be afraid of him ever again.
so here was tommy peele stroking the red cow’s neck while she ate the corn he had meant to give chaik jay. here, too, was nibble rabbit enjoying the haws off a wild rose bush the red cow had trampled down, while old doctor muskrat watched the red cow’s sleepy new baby, and pricked his ears to hear all that was going on.
even watch the dog was happy. he was lying at the foot of the tree, with his nose on his paws as though he expected to stay there all day, and wagging his tail.
but louie thomson, perched on one of its branches in the cold wind, was very unhappy. whenever he moved watch would raise the hair all along his back and growl, and the red cow would roll her scary eyes at him. “hey, tommy!” he called. “drive off those brutes and let me come down!”
“no, i won’t,” said tommy. “this is two times you’ve cheated me. you cheated me with that old trap, and now you tried to come over here into my very own woods and catch my very own beasts. that’s stealing. i’m going to let them watch you while i go up to the house and get my father to come for you.”
of course not one of the woodsfolk knew what he meant. but they knew he was very angry.
“oh, please, please don’t do that!” begged louie. “i’ll promise never to set foot in your woods again. honest, cross my heart and hope to die, i will! please let me go this time.”
nibble sat straight up and listened hard. for louie sounded just like chatter squirrel the night of the terrible storm when he was so terribly afraid. “my whiskers, but isn’t tommy wonderful,” he breathed to watch. “you and the red cow can scare that man when you can reach him, but tommy scares him without doing anything.” and he came close up to tommy’s tall rubber boots and cocked his head on one side, trying to see how tommy did it.
“i know you’ll promise,” tommy was saying, “and you’ll keep it, too, or else i’ll know about it.” he just meant he and watch would find louie’s footprints.
but louie saw that rabbit sitting by tommy and looking exactly as though he were talking to him.
“and if you want your traps,” tommy went on, “you’ll have to get that muskrat to find them.” he just meant he’d thrown them into the pond.
but louie thomson didn’t know what to think of that. he guessed perhaps he’d better leave tommy peele and his wild things very much alone.
